Motor actuated hopper door

ABSTRACT

A DISCHARGE ARRANGEMENT FOR RAILWAY HOPPER CARS INCLUDES PIVOTED BOTTOM DOORS RELATIVELY MOVABLE WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER FOR OPENING AND CLOSING A DISCHARGE OPENING, THE DOORS EACH INCLUDE INNER AND OUTER SECTIONS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED WHICH IN A CLOSED POSITION EXTEND SUBSTANTIALLY LINEARLY AND DURING OPEN POSITION EXTEND IN RELATIVELY ANGULAR RELATION. A FORCE TRANSMITTING MECHANISM IS PROVIDED FOR EACH PAIR OF DOORS AND INCLUDES LEVER AND LINKAGE ARRANGEMENTS CONNECTED TO THE INNER AND OUTER SECTIONS WHICH UPON ACTUATION MOVE THE DOORS TO THEIR RELATIVE SELECTIVE POSITIONS.   D R A W I N G

Feb. 20; 1973 Filed July 19, 1971 R. W. MILLER MOTOR ACTUATED HOPPER DOOR 5 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR ROY W. MILLER ATT' Y.

Feb. 20, 1973 R. w. MILLER MOTOR ACTUATED HOPPER DOOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 19, 1971 INVENTOR ROY W MILLER Feb. 20, 1973 R. w. MILLER MOTOR ACTUATED HOPPER DOOR Filed July 19, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VENTOR ROYMALER ATT'Y R. W. MILLER MOTOR ACTUATED HOPPER DOOR Feb. 20, 1973 Filea July 19, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR ROY w MILLER BY/WM ATT'Y.

R. W. MILLER MOTOR ACTUATED HOPPER DOOR Feb. 20, 1973 Filed July 179, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 uvvENToR ROY W. Ml? ATT' Y.

United States Patent O U.S. Cl. S-284 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A discharge arrangement for railway hopper cars includes pivoted bottom doors relatively movable with respect to each other for opening and closing a discharge opening. The doors each include inner and outer sections pivotally connected which in a closed position extend substantially linearly and during open position extend in relatively angular relation. A force transmitting mechanism is provided for each pair of doors and includes lever and linkage arrangements connected to the inner and outer sections which upon actuation move the doors to their relative selective positions.

BACKGROUND OF' THE INVENTION 1) Field of the invention-The herein disclosed and described invention pertains to the field of unloading mechanisms for hoppers and particularly to those which are positioned on cargo type vehicles such as a railway hopper car.

(2) Description of the prior art-The prior art relating to bottom dump arrangements for hopper cars is disclosed in such patents as 731,817; 693,132 and 3,455,253. Various linkages and door arrangements are included in the prior art to provide a positive and quick dumping arrangement. Such door arrangements are conventional in hopper cars having bottom discharge openings disposed on opposite sides of a center sill of conventional design. Generally, a pair of doors is provided for each discharge opening disposed on opposite sides of the center sill and these doors are pivotally mounted underneath the respective discharge openings for movement to open and closed positions. -In hopper cars wherein a center sill is utilized, the discharge openings which are disposed on opposite sides of the center sill are of comparatively narrow width and thus the relative width of the doors of each pair are also of relatively narrow width. Thus, during discharge or movement of the doors downwardly to a substantially vertical position, their lower ends are disposed substantially above the rail or with respect to any dumping structure disposed beneath the rails into which the load is discharged. Certain types of hopper cars, however, do not have a continuous center sill but are instead provided with stub sills disposed at opposite ends of the car thus leaving therebetween a substantially large wide opening for the discharge of materials. The advantages of this type of construction are in that the relatively wide and long opening provides for the more rapid discharge of material -With less tendency of the material bridging or becoming clogged above the discharge opening. In center sill-less hopper cars of this type it is, of course, apparent that the doors must be of comparatively wide design to cover the increased width size of the discharge opening. As the doors are pivoted downwardly and apart they may,

because of their substantial width, interfere with structure disposed on the road bed or at the discharge site. Such increased width, therefore, presents problems which the present invention solves by the unique construction which will hereinafter be disclosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The prime object of the present invention is to provide an improved door and operating mechanism for hoppers having large width discharge opening such as is present in the sill-less type of hopper car. The present invention includes hopper doors which are swingable toward and away from each other between closed and open positions. The doors each consist of a pair of sections which are hingedly interconnected and in the closed position assume a substantially linear configuration. Upon opening of the doors, however, the doors move outwardly toward the sides of the hopper car and during such movement the sectional arrangement of the doors permits the sections to be pivoted relative to each other to assume a relatively angular or non-linear position with one of the sections of each door being disposed at the same angle as the upper adjacent slope sheet so that the material is directed to be freely discharged through the bottom diS- charge opening and between the rails. Thus, the disposition of the sections of the doors is such that the discharge opening provides for a free and wide discharge and yet the doors are disposed in a substantially angular position which raises the lowermost ends of the inner section free of any possible interference with track structure or other ground supported elements adjacent to the dumping pits into which material is discharged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a hopper car including an improved bottom discharge arrangement.

FIG. 2 is a plan view taken along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing a pair of discharge doors in a closed position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 disclosing a pair of discharge doors in an open position;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 5 5 of FIG. 2 showing a pair of doors in a closed position; i

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional View similar to FIG. 5 showing a pair of doors in an open position;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 7--7 with a pair of doors in a closed position, and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing particularly a door operating mechanism disposed between the adjacent hoppers of a hopper car.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. l and 2, a railway hopper car is generally designated by the reference character 10 and includes side walls 11 having at opposite ends thereof downwardly and inwardly sloping end sheets 12. The railway hopper car includes conventional inverted T-shaped side sills 13 and upper sills 14 suitably connected to the sides 11. Conventional side posts 1S are positioned horizontally in spaced relation. The hopper car i1() is of the sill-less type which includes at opposite ends stub center sills 16 suitably provided with bolster structures 17 to which conventional car trucks 18 are connected. As best shown in FIGS. 3 through 7, the lower ends of the side walls 11 have connected thereto downwardly and inwardly extending slope sheets 19.

In FIG. 1 the entire hopper car is shown and in FIG. 2 only one-half of the car is disclosed. The section 7--7 is taken substantially midway of the car and the car is symmetrical on opposite sides of said sectional line. Thus, the car includes compartments A and B which each comprise a pair of longitudinally spaced hoppers C formed by an intermediate divider wall 20. The divider walls 20 each include vertically extending longitudinally spaced walls 21 interconnected at their upper ends by a top wall 22. 'Ihe spaced walls 21 in effect form a well within which a plurality of vertical gussets 23 are connected to the spaced walls 21. As best shown in FIGS. and 6, the walls 20 are provided with lower wall extensions 24, relatively V- shaped. The sloping end walls 12 of each of the compartments A and B, which are disposed at opposite ends of the car, also are provided with downwardly extending V- shaped walls 25, as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. As best shown in FIG. l, along the section line 7 7, the central divider between the compartments B and C includes divider walls 26 providing edges 27 extending upwardly within the car and provided with a relatively V-shaped configuration. The vertical walls 26 are connected to transversely extending walls members 28, thus forming a well 29 centrally disposed between the adjacent inner ends of the compartments A and B. Transverse gussets 30, similar to the aforementioned gussets 23, are disposed in the well 29. The vertical walls 26 are also provided with lower V-shaped inner vertical wall portions 31 similar to the triangular wall portions 24 and 25. Each of the compartments A and B is provided with a substantially wide discharge area at its lower ends which is controlled by means of a pair of pivoted doors generally designated at 32. Each of the pivoted doors 32 comprises an inner section 33 and an outer section 34. Each outer section 34 is connected by pivotal means 36 to brackets 35 and the other end of the sections 34 are pivoted to the sections 33 by pivotal means 37. The outermost ends of each of the sections 33 is provided with a plurality of hook shaped latch elements 39 adapted to engage brackets 38 made of V-shaped configuration, as will presently be described.

As shown in FIG. 5 sections 33 are provided with upwardly extending arms 40 connected to bell cranks 41, which are pivotally connected to the V-shaped wall portions 24, as indicated at 42. The bell cranks 41 are connected to the upright arms 40 by means of pivotal connections 43. Stop links 44, as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, are pivotally connected as indicated at 45 to the wall portion 24 and each of the links 44 includes a slot 46 in which a pivotal member 47 connected to one end of the bell crank 41 is pivoted and positioned in sliding relation. The bell cranks 40 and their connection to the door sections 33, as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, is unique in the dividers through one of which the section line 5 5 is taken on FIG. 1. A shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, an actuating link 48 is suitably connected at its lower end to the pivotal connection 37 previously described. The link 48 and associated structure of FIGS. 5 and 6 is shown also in FIG. 7, and is provided at the inner ends of the compartments A and B. Thus, referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the links 48 are connected to levers 49 by pivotal connections 50 each of which are pivotally connected as indicated at 51 to the spaced walls 21 of FIGS. 5 and 6 and to the spaced walls 26 of FIG. 7.,A'link 52 is connected to the lower end of each of the levers 49 by means of a pivotal connection 52' and said link 52 is actuated by means of a throw arm 53, in turn pivotally connected as indicated at 54 to the other end of the link 52. As best shown in FIGS. 5 through 8, a shaft 55 is suitably connected underneath the slope sheets 19 to the side sills 13 by means of bracket structures 56, the said shaft extending coextensively with one compartment for actuating the door actuating mechanism of the said compartment. Each of the levers 49 also has connected thereto at its lower end thereof a link 57 by means of a pivot 58, the other end of said link 57 being connected to the pivotal connecting means 37 connecting the sections 33 and 34. The V- shaped lower walls 25 and 31 disposed at opposite ends of each compartment, support bracket structures generally designated at 59. A bracket structure 59 is provided on the walls 25 and end slope sheets 12 and includes an end plate 60 connected to side plates 62 in turn connected to the adjacent wall extension 25. Each of the plates 60 also includes a downwardly extending projection 61 to which the V-shaped brackets 38 are connected which are engaged by the latch elements 39. The bracket structure 59 also includes a horizontal bottom plate 63 provided with openings 64 through which stop rods 65 are sldable. The stop rods 65 are pivotally connected as indicated at 66 to the outer ends of the door sections 33 and at their other ends are provided with heads 67 which limit the downward movement of the sections 33 at opposite ends of the compartments. The wall portions 25 and 31 are also provided with outwardly projecting ledges 68 which are engaged in the closed position of the doors 32 by upwardly projecting anges 33', as shown in FIG. 3, disposed at opposite ends of the door sections 33.

Reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 will disclose the latch mechanisms for each of the compartments, which are located at the outer ends of each of the doors as indicated by the section line 3-3 of FIG. 2. The sections 34 at their outer ends have connected thereto latch brackets 69 provided with hook shaped abutments 70. A lever 71 is supported on a bracket structure 71 on one side of the car by pivotal means 72. The lever 71 is of L-shaped design and also is provided with an abutment surface 78 disposed between a pair of spaced wall sections 78', as shown in FIG. 8. The lever 71 is connected to a link 73 by means of a pivot 74, the said link 73 being connected at its other end to a pivot 75 which in turn is connected to a boss 76 projecting downwardly from a lever 77. The lever 77 is rigidly connected to rotate with the shaft 55 which extends outwardly from one end of the car, as best shown in FIG. 1. The shaft 55 is, as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, also supported on another bracket 81 on the other side of the car. As best shown in FIG. 8, the brackets 69 are formed with indented surfaces 80 which in the open position of the doors, as shown in FIG. 4, are held captive against an inner surface 79 of the wall abutment 78.

OPERATION Each of the compartments is controlled by an individual fluid cylinder 82 which may be air, hydraulic or otherwise, and which in turn is connected t0 the shaft 55 for rotating the same. FIG. 1 discloses only one such cylinder 82 for the left hand compartment A, the cylinder `82. for the right hand compartment B being disposed interiorly of the sides 11. As the shaft 55 is rotated by the fluid cylinder 82, the lever 71 and arm 77 are moved to the position shown in FIG. 4 wherein the abutment surfaces 7-8' are disengaged from the abutments 70 of the brackets 69 which are then simultaneously free to rotate to the position shown. In this position the surfaces 80 of the brackets are disposed in captive position against the inner surfaces 79 of the wall abutment 78. Thus, the latching mechanism has been released simultaneously as the linkage and actuating mechanism functions to open the doors. Referring now particularly to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, as the shaft 55 is rotated the arms 53 are moved from the position shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 to a position wherein the levers 49 are rotated to the position shown in FIG. 6, the link 48 operating to jackknife the sections 33 and 34 to the position indicated. This same movement of the sections 33 and 34 on the other side of the car is also eifectuated by the link 57 connected to the lower end of the arm 49, as shown in FIG. 7. Thus, it is obvious that the operation Qt both dgi-s may be effected by means of the single shaft 55 disposed on one side of the car. The links 48, lever 49 and links 57 and their operative relation to links 52 and throw arms 53 provide for movement of both doors from one shaft as indicated. As shown in FIGS. and 6, the bellcranks 41 which are attached to the arms 40 limit the lowering movement of the sections 33 to position them in a wide open position and to suspend them above the rail or other structure which might be diposed adjacent the pit into which the load must be dumped. This restraining action is afforded by the bellcranks 41 and their pivotal movement being limited by the links 44, as indicated in lFIG. 6. The stop rod 65 disposed on one of the ends of the compartment also serve to support the opposite ends of the sections 33, as best shown in FIG. 4, in the angular position which is inclined or sloping similar to the slope sheet 19. The sections 34 are held in their angular relation by means of the links 48 and also by means of the inter-engagement of the surfaces 79 with the surfaces 80, respectively, of the levers 71 and arms 77. The levers 41 also perform the additional function of guiding the hook shaped latch elements V39 into the U-shaped brackets 38 so that the ends of the sections 33 are firmly supported on the walls 24 and bracket structures 59. The action of the ends of the sections 33, by virtue of the bellcranks 41 and their connection to the arms" 40, is such that the latch elements .39 are initially pivoted upwardly and the sections 33 and then moved outwardly free of the brackets 38. In closing, this movement is in reverse so that the latch elements 39 snugly engage the brackets 38 to support the sections 33 in their closed position.

As is disclosed, the linkage and lever arrangement is such that the sections 33, 34 are moved from a linear position to a substantially relatively angular position in jackknife relation. This, of course, causes the sections to be suspended freely above any obstructions which might reasonably project upwardly from the track area or from the pit into which the material is dumped. Thus, a very wide discharge area is achieved for a sill-less hopper car having a substantially wide opening and yet requiring only two sectionalized doors for controlling the discharge of material. The shaft 55 is actuated in an opposite direction which in turn provides for closing of the doors as indicated in FIGS. 3, 5 and 7. l',

What is claimed is:

1. A bottom discharge arrangement for discharging a load from a vehicle having a hopper structure including horizontally spaced frame members providing therebetween a discharge opening, comprising:

rst and second doors, each including first and second sections movable between open and closed positions relative to said opening;

means pivotally connecting said first sections of said doors to said frame members;

means pivotally connecting adjacent ends of said first and second sections;

force transmitting means including a lever pivotally mounted on said ystructure adjacent one side thereof above one door;

a first actuating link pivotally connected to said lever and extending transversely and pivotally connected to said other door adjacent the other side of said structure;

a second link pivotally connected to said lever and to said one door, and

means for pivoting said levers whereupon said first and second sections are moved from a substantially linear closed position to an open position with said first and second sections disposed in relatively angular relation.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said first sections of said doors in the open position diver'ging outwardly with respect to a longitudinal centerlne'of said hopper structure, and said second sections coverage inwardly toward said centerline.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said pivotally mounted lever including pivot means intermediate the ends of said lever connected to said structure, said first link being connected to one end of said levers, said second link being connected to the other end of said lever, said first and second links also being connected to the means pivotally connecting said first sections to said second sections. v

4. A bottom discharge arrangement for discharging a load from a vehicle having a hopper structure including horizontally spaced frame members providing therebetween a discharge opening, comprising:

first and second doors, each including first and second sections movable between open and closed positions relative to said opening,

means pivotally connecting said first sections of said doors to said frame members,

means pivotally connecting adjacent ends of said first and second sections,

force transmitting means including a lever pivotally connected to said hopper structure,

means supported on said hopper structure and connected Ato said lever for pivoting the same,

and linkage means pivotally connected to said levers and to said doors whereupon movement of said lever, said first and second sections are pivoted from a substantially linear configuration in a closed position to an open position wherein said first and second sections are disposed in relatively angular relation.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 4,

said linkage means including first and second links, and

means pivotally connecting said links to said adjacent ends of said first and second sections to provide for jackknife movement of said sections between said positions.

6. The invention in accordance with claim 5, said force transmitting means including a throw arm pivotally connected to said hopper structure, and

means pivotally connecting said throw arm to said lever for pivoting the same.

7. 'Ihe invention in accordance with claim 6,

said means pivotally connecting said throw arm to said lever including a third link.

8. The invention in accordance with claim 4, said linkage means including first and second links pivotally connected to said lever and respectively pivotally connected to said adjacent ends of said sections to provide for jackknife movement of said sections between said positions.

9. The invention in accordance with claim 8, including third links pivotally supported on said hopper and pivotally connected to said second sections.

10. The invention in accordance with claim 9 including a V-shaped bracket supported on said hopper, said bracket having converging ledges, latch elements on outer edges of second sections in the closed position of said doors conforming to and engaging said ledges,

said outeredges of said second sections and said latch elements during initial movement of said doors being tilted upwardly and then outwardly to disengage from said ledges.

11. The invention in accordance with claim 9, said third links having a bellcrank configuration and including stop means for limiting the opening movement of said sections.

12. The invention in accordance with claim 9, including upwardly extending brackets connected to inner edges of said second sections, and means pivotally connecting said third links to said upwardly extending brackets.

13. The invention in accordance with claim 5,

said first sections including stop elements pivotal-with said sections,

stop arms pivotally supported on said hopper structure adjacent said stop relements and engaging the same in the closed position to lock said doors against opening movement,

means interconnecting said stop arms for pivoting said arms out of inter-engaging relation upon movement of said levers and movement of said doors to said open position.

References Cited UNITED sTATEs PATENTS 693,132 2/1902 Heidn 10s-290x 731,817 6/1903 Russe11 10s-299x 938,976 11/1909 clark 10s-282 R x Y 5 .DRAYTON E. HOFFMAN, Primary Examiner H. BELTRAN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

